Monday, 30 May 2016

The Batman was always a masked avenger. Green Arrow was a costumed adventurer. However, in the Arrow TV series, it seems that Ollie returns from the island with something to avenge.

There is an archetypal contrast between the island where he learned survival skills and the city where he applies those skills to more than survival.

His first targets are not muggers, dealers or bank robbers but corrupt businessmen protected by the police. Thus, like Frank Miller's Batman, he goes straight into conflict with the law. Mike Grell's Green Arrow went from masked with a secret identity to unmasked without a secret identity. The TV Arrow is unmasked but hooded with a secret identity.

Unlike Wayne and, I think, earlier versions of Oliver Queen, this TV version shares his mansion with other surviving members of his family. There is a major on-going story line to the entire series. The first episode is confusing but I watched it with a friend already familiar with this and related series.

Friday, 27 May 2016

I have Smallville Seasons 1-6 but otherwise am ignorant of small screen superheroes. Today, we watched:

Arrow, episode 1;Daredevil, trailer;Lucifer, trailer.

I realize that I have a long way to go and that the screen versions are reproducing comics crossover complexities.

In Arrow, apparently following a more recent comics version, the origin is changed so that, instead of Ollie falling off a yacht, the yacht is shipwrecked and everyone else dies although in different ways. A character is named after a GA writer, Diggle! There is a very high tech embezzlement arrow.